Transitioning from running to amateur soccer to MLS!

Yeah you don't need any technical acumen at all to play professional football (soccer). As bad as MLS may be as a league, and believe me that there are many worse leagues out there, the players are amazingly skilled.

Ever try to trap/take a pass, coming from 40 yards away, on your foot? It takes a hell of a technical ability to "deaden" that ball at your foot and not have it bounce 6 yards away.

Ever try to make that same pass to someone and hit them in stride? It's not easy.

Ever tried to volley a ball out of mid air? How about taking a ball coming from 20 yards away and having it take half bounce before you try to get it on goal?

MLS is amateur soccer

Are you trying to say that runners don't have enough technical skill and maneuverability with their feet to even consider playing soccer at an amateur level?

Yeah you don't need any technical acumen at all to run at an elite level. As bad as USATF is, and believe me that there are many worse leagues out there, the runners are amazingly skilled.

Ever try to surge past a runner, coming from 40 meters away? It takes a hell of a technical ability to "deaden" that ball at your foot and not completely burn out once you and the other guy are sprinting for the last 100 meters.

Ever try to make that same pass to someone and hit them in stride with your elbow? It's not easy.

Curious Feet wrote:

I think it's more realistic that a person can play major league soccer than becoming an elite Track & Field athlete.

Has anyone thought about playing soccer as a career?

We have the endurance, but we don't have the technique.

well there are 23 teams with 28 players so 644 professional players in the us and there is not that many professional runners in the usa

basic math wrote:

Curious Feet wrote:

I think it's more realistic that a person can play major league soccer than becoming an elite Track & Field athlete.

Has anyone thought about playing soccer as a career?

We have the endurance, but we don't have the technique.

well there are 23 teams with 28 players so 644 professional players in the us and there is not that many professional runners in the usa

Only 20 teams in the US, 3 in Canada. A lot of players are from other countries as well. For example, Seattle has only 13 players from the US. So more likely around 300 US players in the MLS. How many people make a living running?

I think it would be way more likely to become an elite track and field athlete than an MLS player. Way more skill is required for soccer. I did both in college and it way easier transitioning to running after playing soccer most of my life. I can’t imagine trying to take up soccer in my college years or beyond having only just ran. The technical skills and tactical awareness needed for soccer are not something you can just take up without years of practice.

Runr45 wrote:

I did both in college and it way easier transitioning to running after playing soccer most of my life. I can’t imagine trying to take up soccer in my college years or beyond having only just ran.

So soccer automatically gives you running, but can running make it at least somewhat easier to transition to running?

Is soccer like 80% skill, and 20% endurance?

You need endurance to train and do drills, which from having a running background, it'll be easier for a runner to train and do those drills.

If running is pure endurance, then the most difficult and equally long component to being successful in soccer is skill and technique.

A metaphor would be like: doing ONLY the running drills but not doing the base mileage and then expecting to be a good runner. It can't happen.

basic facts first wrote:

basic math wrote:

well there are 23 teams with 28 players so 644 professional players in the us and there is not that many professional runners in the usa

Only 20 teams in the US, 3 in Canada. A lot of players are from other countries as well. For example, Seattle has only 13 players from the US. So more likely around 300 US players in the MLS. How many people make a living running?

There are americans playing abroad as well. The 600ish estimate seems reasonable.

That is for the first league, there are professionals making a very meager living (maybe less than 40k per year) in the lower levels as well.

So maybe 600 americans truly professional, 300 making a meager living, and 300 who are part time. The OPs suggestion that soccer is easier to go pro compared to running is probably right. Participation levels in high school are much higher in track where I live.

So soccer has more "slots" for pros and a smaller pool to candidates.

To suggest that most elite runners could make the transition to professional soccer is absurd, though. My expectation is that a very tiny number could, but a similar tiny number of soccer players could probably make the transition the other direction. I think if you took all current professionals in each sport and offered them an enormous financial incentive if they succeeded at making the switch, maybe one would per year on average

Curious Feet wrote:

I think it's more realistic that a person can play major league soccer than becoming an elite Track & Field athlete.

Has anyone thought about playing soccer as a career?

We have the endurance, but we don't have the technique.

Given the skills needed to play pro soccer at any level, and the fact that minimum MLS contract salary is $62,500, median is about $92,000, and avererage is about $226,000... Your odds of just getting a real job that pays as well are exponentially better.

Nate Jacqua and Roger Levesque

Former professional soccer players in MLS.

Jacqua was an "All-Star" while on Chicago Fire. Levesque was a huge star for Seattle Sounders while they were in the USL and then transitioned to MLS.

Both are now ultamarathoners (yeah yeah yeah, I know they get trashed on the boards here) and are doing really well. I know Jacqua has run UTMB and won a few 100 milers here in the US. Levesque has placed well at several shorter distance races (50k and 50 milers).

Curious Feet wrote:

A metaphor would be like: doing ONLY the running drills but not doing the base mileage and then expecting to be a good runner. It can't happen.

What? Several runners started in their 20's and got to elite levels. Relatively very few have become elite at basketball, and I can't think of any in soccer.

Really Bro wrote:

Curious Feet wrote:

A metaphor would be like: doing ONLY the running drills but not doing the base mileage and then expecting to be a good runner. It can't happen.

What? Several runners started in their 20's and got to elite levels. Relatively very few have become elite at basketball, and I can't think of any in soccer.

That seems right because you need hours of practice to hone soccer skills. I'd bet that the amount of sprinters who could be soccer players is much higher than the amount of soccer players who could be sprinters. That is if the sprinters were playing organised soccer at age four like most of the current pros.